Kona VR review: A PC port that makes the original game better

Kona VR review

If you haven't yet had a gamble to play through Kona on a standard monitor (colloquially known as the pancake version), it'southward the story of Carl Faubert, a Korean State of war veteran who'southward been hired to investigate some shady goings-on in the barren, cold country of Northern Canada. Since its release into Early Access in 2022 and total release in 2022, Kona has racked up an overall "Very Positive" score on Steam, with most people agreeing that it's well worth the money if only a chip curt on content. We even covered an early version of the standard Kona, stating that "Kona mixes exploration, puzzle solving, and story to create a compelling narrative."

Kona has now been reworked to include VR support, officially working on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive and not seeming to work at all on Windows Mixed Reality (WMR). This DLC doesn't come up gratuitous, costing nearly $5 for those who own the standard game already and about $16 for a complete bundle. Permit'southward accept a look at whether or not Kona VR is worth the extra money based on how well information technology performs in VR.

Encounter at GMG

All suspense is returned tenfold

I thing that Kona gets right is suspense. After a brief introduction in which at that place are plentiful cutscenes, you're generally left on your own to explore the area surrounding Atamipek Lake. Yep, in that location are certainly more cutscenes to come, but for the most part it's up to you to drive or walk effectually and find clues in the mostly-deserted settlement.

The pattern and atmosphere are spot on in the pancake version — I played through a good chunk without VR to get a sense of what the standard game is similar — and once you don the head-mounted brandish (HMD), the suspense is turned up exponentially. Creeping through abandoned houses only to hear a crash downstairs will cover y'all with goosebumps, and information technology actually does at times become an effort to open up notwithstanding another door for fear of what's behind.

When outdoors, bravado snow contributes to a claustrophobic effect, and you never really know what's just beyond your vision. Combined with the stellar original soundtrack, Kona VR delivers when it comes to immersion and suspense.

Mechanics work well for a VR port

When porting a standard game over to VR, things can get awry in a bustle. Luckily, Kona seems to take started out with a pretty solid base of operations, and the VR mechanics added later actually piece of work, for the near office, quite well.

Locomotion, past default, is a node-based system where yous can just move to certain predetermined spots that light up when you expect at them. This removes nearly of the nausea-inducing movement, but it also breaks immersion. Thankfully, you can switch over to smooth locomotion, where natural walking is improve represented. You lot tin can also choose complimentary teleportation, where you point anywhere and teleport instantly. Even so, snap turning doesn't seem to be able to be turned off, but a room-scale setup removes nearly of the need except for reorienting yourself.

In the standard game, objects you tin can interact with have a modest diamond appear above them when you get close enough. In some cases, you have to be jammed right up against, say, a drawer in order to open it, and it tin be sort of ho-hum. The VR version instead has the diamond appear when you're in the vicinity and looking at the particular, at which time you lot can point your controller (both which announced as hands in-game) and hit the trigger to interact. The laser axle you utilize for pointing does suspension immersion, just I actually prefer it.

As for equipment — flashlight, camera, map, axe, crowbar — you concord them in your virtual hands, and their employ feels natural. Unfortunately, the aforementioned can't be said for driving, in which you lot command the direction with the joystick on the right Bear on controller. At that place's likewise no option to utilize your gun in the VR version, and, come to think of it, I don't recall I had to deal with any roaming wolf packs while wearing the headset.

There are a ton of documents to read through inside Kona, but there's nothing to worry about. Writing is just as legible inside the headset, and there's still the pick to run across the English translation in typed text rather than handwriting.

Kona VR review: Conclusion

Kona VR review

Considering you lot can switch between VR and pancake mode on whatever of your saved games whenever you want — you do accept to relaunch the game — without losing any progress, anyone who already owns Kona and happens to have an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive lying around should give this a go. The VR DLC costs merely nigh $5, and you'll go a good 4 hours of playtime if you outset a fresh playthrough. If you're coming at this game completely new, yous're still only going to pay about $xvi.

VR mechanics are solid for a port, and though there'due south no longer the roaming wolf packs on which y'all can take a few potshots, the suspense is still hither and is ramped up past the fact that you feel similar you're walking around this frozen wilderness. Add the beautiful soundtrack by Quebec ring CuréLabel and excellent spatial audio effects, and you'll regularly get hitting by goosebumps. This is one of the meliorate thriller-mystery VR games I've played, and if yous're a fan of either genre, I recommend giving this one a go.

Pros:

Suspenseful atmosphere heightened by VR.
Different locomotion options.
Toll is right.
Using equipment feels natural.

Cons:

Can't disable snap turning.
Wolf encounters removed in VR version.

Encounter at GMG

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